''Toronto Rocks'' was an hour-long television program presenting music videos on CITY-TV in

Toronto Toronto ( ; or ) is the capital city of the Canadian province of Ontario. With a recorded population of 2,794,356 in 2021, it is the most populous city in Canada and the fourth most populous city in North America. The city is the anch ...

Ontario Ontario ( ; ) is one of the thirteen provinces and territories of Canada.Ontario is located in the geographic eastern half of Canada, but it has historically and politically been considered to be part of Central Canada. Located in Central Ca ...

, Canada in the 1980s, starting in 1984. It aired live at 4PM weekdays and was initially hosted by

John Majhor John Majhor (28 November 1953 – 23 January 2007) was a radio and television host, most noted for his work in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. Early years Walter John Majhor was born in San Bernardino, California and grew up in various Mid-West s ...

. Majhor was a longtime DJ at 1050 CHUM AM in Toronto and eventually became one of Canada's first " VJs" with the development of

music video A music video is a video of variable duration, that integrates a music song or a music album with imagery that is produced for promotional or musical artistic purposes. Modern music videos are primarily made and used as a music marketing devic ...

s. ''Toronto Rocks'' was a local contemporary to

MuchMusic Much (an abbreviation for its full name MuchMusic) is a Canadian English language specialty channel owned by BCE Inc. through its Bell Media subsidiary that airs programming aimed at teenagers and young adults. MuchMusic launched on August 31, ...

and

MTV MTV (Originally an initialism of Music Television) is an American cable channel that launched on August 1, 1981. Based in New York City, it serves as the flagship property of the MTV Entertainment Group, part of Paramount Media Networks, a di ...

(CITY-TV and MuchMusic were both owned by CHUM Ltd.), and had kids rushing home from school every day to catch their favourite videos of the early-to-mid '80's. During the show, Majhor played videos by a wide variety of the big-name artists of the day, all the way from

Michael Jackson Michael Joseph Jackson (August 29, 1958 – June 25, 2009) was an American singer, songwriter, dancer, and philanthropist. Dubbed the " King of Pop", he is regarded as one of the most significant cultural figures of the 20th century. Over ...

's "

Beat It "Beat It" is a song by American singer Michael Jackson from his sixth studio album, ''Thriller (Michael Jackson album), Thriller'' (1982). It was written by Jackson and produced by Jackson and Quincy Jones. Jones encouraged Jackson to include a ...

Van Halen Van Halen ( ) was an American rock band formed in Pasadena, California, in 1972. Credited with "restoring hard rock to the forefront of the music scene", Van Halen was known for its energetic live shows and for the virtuosity of its lead gu ...

's "

Jump Jumping is a form of locomotion or movement in which an organism or non-living (e.g., robotic) mechanical system propels itself through the air along a ballistic trajectory. Jump or Jumping also may refer to: Places * Jump, Kentucky or Jump S ...

Yes Yes or YES may refer to: * An affirmative particle in the English language; see yes and no Education * YES Prep Public Schools, Houston, Texas, US * YES (Your Extraordinary Saturday), a learning program from the Minnesota Institute for Talent ...

' " Owner of a Lonely Heart", to the Eurythmics' " Sweet Dreams (Are Made of This)" and other songs released in the 1980s by artists who became commercially popular during the decade. Wednesdays on the show were set aside for "Mid Week Metal Mania", where Majhor played only heavy metal videos from the

hard rock Hard rock or heavy rock is a loosely defined subgenre of rock music typified by aggressive vocals and distorted electric guitars. Hard rock began in the mid-1960s with the garage, psychedelic and blues rock movements. Some of the earliest ha ...

and " hair bands" of the day. He also interviewed in-studio guests and had various contests and giveaways. Over 400 episodes of ''Toronto Rocks'' were aired. Brad Giffen (until 1988), Lance Chilton (1988–90) and JD Roberts also filled in for

from time to time.

References

Former Toronto Rocks Host John Majhor Dies Of Cancer
Citytv original programming 1980s Canadian music television series 1984 Canadian television series debuts Year of Canadian television series ending missing Rock music television series Television shows filmed in Toronto {{Canada-nonfiction-tv-prog-stub